On a recent trip to California to encourage students to use social media to reach out to the nations I came across some very interesting stories on the campus of CBU. The most profound story has to deal of course with the nations. California Baptist University challenges its students to think about their whole collegiate time as preparation for service to God. From the moment of new student orientation the students meet around and touch a large marble globe. Then as they march out for graduation they once again touch the globe. They call it the "Kugel Walk”. The faculty and staff hope and pray these are not the only moments that these wonderful students think about the nations.

CBU sends out short term mission teams called ISPs (International Service Projects). These trips also start and end at the Kugel globe located in the Great Commission Plaza. The globe which is a reminder to all those who enter campus to not only pray for the nations but also to prepare for the nations.

I have challenged students not only to use all tools at their disposal to share the gospel but to take everything they learn and apply it to sharing the gospel and making disciples. Students need to be reminded that college, believe it or not, is a season of life that will come to an end. I pray that they will make better decisions than I did in college. I shared with some of them that there will be classes that have absolutely nothing to do with the nations and so they will have to work with the professor to be creative in applying the concepts learned to their Christian walk and the nations.

One such class that I took in seminary had little to do with the nations. It was a church administration class. My desire at the time was not to work in a local church and never work on a local church staff. (I still do not have that desire, but understand a more mature version of Obedience, meaning... wherever He leads, I'll go) However, I knew that missionaries have teams and they require a different set of administrative skills. After sitting and talking with the professor he agreed that it would be a waste of time to do some of the assignments he was requiring. So the two of us came up with assignments that would better prepare future missionaries. 

When I shared that story with some students at CBU they could not believe that we were able to change some assignments to better prepare myself for future service.

Last year during the summer researchers saw the amount of Tweets in the Middle East exponentially increase over the course of two months and then it went back down to normal. This caused some to wonder what happened and how they could adapt for the next year.

When the findings came out it was one of those... Oh ya moments. Last summer the Islamic month of Ramadan was in the middle of two different months. The Online Project, a marketing firm in the Middle East published a report that not only details the peak times for twitter activity across the region but also a run down of country in the region.

So as a mission strategist in social media what am I to do? That's right start getting ready for next year. If there are peak times when Muslims are on Twitter sending messages back and forth to one another, then that is the exact time that we need people actively trying to share the gospel with them. Because we know in advance the suggested times we can create a mini social media strategy and gain partnerships from people in the states to be actively listening and engaging Muslims with the gospel during this specific 30 day time.

A strategy of this nature has three main parts. First, mission strategists need to actively listen to what Muslims are saying during this upcoming Ramadan. Missionaries already have a good idea of the conversation topics that revolve around the Muslim holy month, yet, actively listening implies the constant monitoring of activity and keywords in order to interact with potential seekers during Ramadan. Second, mission personnel need to be ready to interact with these individuals that flood the scene with tweets about how thankful they are for God and all he has done for them this year. This gives missionaries and prepared believers the opportunity to share why they are thankful for God. I have always said, "It is much easier to get into a spiritual conversation with a Muslim, than someone from the West." Third, a group of people need to stand at the ready in the churches all across the world following and praying for this team and the Muslims they interact with on Twitter. Its a simple strategy but like the student mobilizers I have worked with in the past say about the Christian life… "Its Simple, Not Easy".

Please join us in praying for next years Ramadan starting in the last few days of June. If you would like more information, send me an email or message

Tags: Strategic, Missions, Twitter

I have met several college students over the past few months that have disabled or deleted their social media accounts. This causes me to ask the obvious question, why?… Some guys have decided that they are trying to avoid being tempted by the images they see on FB so they have chose to abstain. This is a nice and noble response to experiencing temptation, but in my opinion it is a temporary solution to a long term problem. It is a bandaid on a gushing wound. We all know someone like this, and don't get me wrong, if Jesus tells you specifically to away, then you should abstain.

Other people are just fed up with people (their own friends) posting nothing but crap on walls and in Twitter feeds so it's a waste of time. Therefore, they see no purpose in it. This is so frustrating to me. Now I recognize that I am an innovator. In the mission community we normally have research departments but most do not have a development department to help missionaries develop new ways of sharing the gospel with a UPG or Urban center.

Now please let me try to convince you to keep using Facebook and other social media.

What if the Lord, in all of His awesomeness, brought almost every nation under one roof. Mind you it is a digital roof, but at least its one place. Most believers already have access to this place and all they have to do is look, and they kind find people from almost every nation. Why would you not use such a tool, or venue that has access to over a Billion people. Just in case you missed it thats billion with a B. There are over 56 Million Facebook users in the Middle East alone. By having a Facebook account you potentially have access to Arab Muslims that need to hear the message of the Gospel. By friending, messaging, chatting, sharing, and discipling through the means that we have, Facebook, we are doing and being about the Great Commission.

Please hear me clearly, I am trying to get students, or any believer that has a Facebook account to use it for the glory of God by sharing the gospel with the nations. I am trying to get stay at home, & professional mothers to talk about their faith with mothers in other cultures. But, why? The real question is why not. They taught us in seminary to go where people are to share the gospel. The also told us to use what we have available to spread the seed of the gospel broadly. I just have a hard time finding a better place than on Facebook. Yes, it contains junk that doesn't belong. But if believers would use it for its maximum potential it could be a tool that to change the world.

So Ty, give me one reason to keep my Facebook account. Ok, with a Facebook account you have the opportunity to share the message of the gospel with Millions of people.

Tags: Facebook, Gospel, Great Commission, Nations, Believers

Do we really understand what we ask people to do in the church? I think that some of our members know exactly what they are doing, but not everyone, maybe not even half. Some believers, who claim to share the message of truth never have an understanding of what they are doing. They memorize a script that even I dont understand sometimes. But do they do this to appease other members of Christian sub culture or to be more like Jesus?

I am from the SouthEast. I grew up in a conservative christian home. The rules were established and most of them were based off of scripture and the others from this thing we call wisdom. As I grew up in the church I thought I knew how to do things. Then, I went off to college and then seminary after that and it made realize that we, in the church get it wrong sometimes. In my opinion its not that complicated, apologize, promise not to do it again and move forward. Sometimes its that simple. But not always.

I live overseas and have done so for about the last eight years. We return to the states every so often for rest and renewal. This time, things are a little different for me. From the perspective of a church attender I see this blank look on the faces of church members sitting in the pews. It is as though they are just sitting there with no life. It might be that I have been trained to look for spiritual emptiness or the situation in the American church is much worse than I thought.

While listening to a podcast last week and someone mentioned the phrase "Do they participate in church to check a box of the christian sub culture, or to be more like Jesus?" That is exactly what I had seen over the past couple of months. But the real question remains. How do you change it? In my research I have found this has been a problem in the established church for years and the only way we can change it is by constant and consistent discipleship. This requires something many have heard of but few understand called "Accountability". We are not talking about the time when men come together and talk about their struggles. I am talking about holding members of the church accountable for being what they are... Christ followers. Are they being and acting more like Christ during the week, at home, school and work? Do those in church leadership even ask or do we assume that they are out there doing their thing for JC? Pray for God to open your eyes to the members of your fellowship that need a little more accountability and hold them accountable to be more like Jesus.